View full sizeThomas Boyd/The OregonianOregon's Brandon Bair is small for a defensive tackle, but makes his presence known both on and off the field.

EUGENE -- Those who only know Oregon defensive tackle Brandon Bair from watching him operate amid the violence and mayhem on the line of scrimmage, don't know the half of it.

The 6-foot-7, 272-pound senior is off to a slam-bang start in the 2010 season with 6.5 tackles for loss, five pass deflections and two sacks for the fifth-ranked Ducks (3-0). But there is more to the story.

"I have a life to live outside of football," Bair says.

For instance:

He writes poetry, including a Valentine's Day missive his wife of two and a half years, Jordan, treasures.

The best moment of Bair's day, every day, occurs when he arrives home at his house outside of Junction City, and his 1-year-daughter, Brooklyn, launches herself at him, wrapping her tiny arms around his leg.

Bair, 25, is active in his church, where he teaches Sunday school.

Bair volunteers with the local Boy Scout troop.

He cooks. In fact, he made a great impression on his first date with Jordan by preparing chicken Alfredo. Bair's specialty is dutch oven potatoes whipped up in his outdoor "man kitchen."

Bair owns a used car business, High Point Auto. He is licensed, bonded and insured, and any car he or Jordan drives is for sale if the price is right.

He already has his degree in economics with a Spanish minor, and interns in sales and marketing for Brashers Northwest Auto Auction. The internship is up at the end of fall term.

"I'd hire him as a full-time employee in a minute," says Lisa Larkin, Brashers' general manager, "but I don't think I'll get my wish."

Because Bair will have options, perhaps in professional football, certainly in business.

He is smart, analytical, prepared, sets goals, and is willing to work hard to reach them.

As UO defensive line coach Jerry Azzinaro says, "I would guess Brandon Bair was a great man when he was 9 years old."

Backup gets his break

Bair served a two-year Mormon mission, much of it working with Spanish-speaking farm workers in Florida, between graduating from South Fremont High School in St. Anthony, Idaho, and arriving at Oregon as a tight end in 2006 when he redshirted.

He worked hard at staying in shape while on the mission, but still was playing catch-up as a football player on the college level, he moved to defensive end, and languished on the bench.

"I thought I was going to be a back-up for my whole career," Bair says. "That is just the way things were looking because we had such good defensive ends, Will Tukuafu and Kenny Rowe. My chances weren't looking so good."

But injuries forced a move inside to tackle in 2008. When Azzinaro arrived in 2009 to take over the defensive line, he saw possibilities for Bair as a hybrid, tackle/defensive end in what was becoming a multiple-set UO defense.

Azzinaro says it was more of a case of adapting the scheme to the personnel. He thought he needed Bair on the field.

Thomas Boyd/The OregonianBrandon Bair uses his 6-foot-7 frame to full effect in the Ducks pass rush, as Utah learned last season.

"You've got a 6-foot-7, 275-pound young man who really cares, whose character is above reproach, who is very athletic, who has a work ethic that is second to none, well, would you bet on that man?" Azzinaro says. "I would."

He did. Bair responded last season with 45 tackles, 8.5 for loss.

If his relative string-bean physique looks a little out of place sometimes among the wide bodies in the interior line, he finds ways to compensate.

In the weight room Bair has a 1,145-pound total in the clean, squat and bench. He cleaned 330 pounds.

"Deceivingly strong," UO linebacker Spencer Paysinger says. "A lot of people say defensive tackles are supposed to be these big, thick guys who can hold up two gaps. He's as strong as they come. Have you seen his wing span?"

But Bair's biggest attribute, Paysinger says, is his relentlessly positive attitude, which allows him to the find the reward in going hard on every play, whatever happens.

"Whether he gets double-teamed, single-blocked, cut," Paysinger says, "he's going to pop up with a smile."

Rising, but grounded star

Jordan Bair likes football. Her dad coached and her brothers played. But that isn't why she married her husband, who is related to a friend of a family member.

In fact, she put him off while finishing an elementary education degree at Westminster College in Salt Lake City. When she wasn't in school, she was at her family home in Seattle, and wasn't sure she wanted a long-distance romance.

"We broke up a few times," she says.

But Bair wouldn't give up. Finally, on top of a mountain in Eastern Idaho, he proposed and she accepted. She decided she loved him for his values.

"He loves his family, his church and his God," she says. "Those things are such a big part of his life, and why he wants to serve and give back to the community in gratitude for all he has been given."

Which explains why Bair teaches Sunday school, why he volunteers to help the Scouts, and why he attends youth football games in Junction City when he can.

Success came relatively late in Bair's college career, and it hasn't changed him.

"He's just a very humble man," Jordan Bair says. "People know who he is now, but he doesn't let it get in his head. I think one of the things that makes him unique and has kept him humble is that he has kept his priorities straight. He focuses on what is important."

Finding a way to succeed

High Point Auto started when Bair bought a 1981 Cadillac Eldorado with the idea of giving it to a family member. He put some money into repairs, received an offer and sold it.

Then he bought broken-down motorcycle, taught himself to repair it, got another offer and sold that.

He turned a profit both times, and decided he was onto something. He investigated, learned how to obtain a dealer's license and went into business.

"High Point is the name of the mountain that my wife and I got engaged on," Bair says. "My favorite place in the world."

High Point Auto never has a large inventory. It usually consists of whatever Brandon and Jordan are driving at the moment.

"Most of the time, what I do is I'll find somebody who is looking for a car, and then I'll find them the car and charge them a commission," he says.

He regularly attended Brasher's auctions while looking for cars for his business. One thing led to another, and a paid internship materialized.

From Larkin's perspective, it's worked beautifully. The Brashers general manager says she has an employee who works hard, learns fast, thinks clearly and never once has tried to exploit his celebrity status.

"He's such a big, soft teddy bear, with such a wonderful, warm personality," she says.

It's worked for Bair, too. Between the paid internship, the profit from his business and his scholarship check, he can support his family without Jordan having to work outside the home.

Clearly, Bair knows how to make a buck.

"Everybody asks me what I want to do when I grow up," Bair says. "I say I want my money to make money."

That and get an education, start a family, develop a relationship with church, God and community. Check, check, check.

Oh, and along the way he turned himself into a pretty good college football player.